Wes,
Here is the latest version of my big layout… the dimensions are now correct (after measuring the room myself and finding that who ever measured before added 2 inches to both length and width).
There is also going to be a raised trolley line, and a subway line below the deck. These are not on the layout yet, have to figure out how to incorporate them after I get the basics down.
I also have determined that a ceiling layout is a definite go… as long as the walls to the right are not poured concrete (which I do not think they are after the home inspection on Wednesday).
Wow, I wish I had that much room available. You can get lost in all of that square footage. I think you should keep the turntable. That might take a while to build. it makes my track plan look pretty basic.
Wes,
Still wish I we had gotten the first house… 35 x 12 with a 7 x 19 extension would have been loads of fun! I can’t complain though, the 12’ 10" x 17’ 10" room is a heck of a lot larger than I have ever had to work with before. The only problem with the turntable is it takes up a lot of realestate and only having a 3’ wide area may make it very difficult to get more than 2 people in the room at a time. I would really like to have space for at least 6 people, and I have no where to do work on anything…
Jerry,
Just shy of 13 x 18. I’ve been trying to get something that I could pack a lot of action with train movement, and have a bit of space for accessories and scenery. This is going to be the largest layout I have ever worked on (Dad and I designed a 30 x 40 HO layout back in the early '80s that we only got 20% finished) in O Gauge.
If I can find a transfer table, as recommended by Fifedog, I may scrap the turntable idea. The other constraint is I have only 5 years to design, build, and play with this layout as the wife is already planning the next move! At least in the next house I get to dictate how much space I get! LOL!!!
Well, I have made some progress. I found an MTH graduated trussle kit at the LHS, and started messing around with that for a while. It cleared some things up for me, and I worked on this for a couple of days. I have come to the conclusion that I like doubling back dogbone layouts when space is limited. I found a couple of places to but sidings and other pathways around the loop, so I can park two trains and drive the third. The only tricky piece is the double curve switch (031 and 042) which I haven’t seen in the stores, but it’s in the MTH set catalog. I plan on making the top section all flat on top of “rock”, and the trains will go into tunnels underneth. I will have to make plenty of access to the tunnels, since I have a couple of switches under there. The total price of track was $770. I don’t like to think about that, but it’s actually cheaper than other plans I have come up with, and this design leaves a lot of area for scenery and buildings.
BTW, I’m lovin’ this! I love the turntable too. If you’re hunting for more room, maybe shorted the run-off lines that are on the other side of the turn-table, it won’t solve all of you problems, but it might help. I like this layout a lot, because there is a lot of motion throughout the whole thing, but the focal point will be the turn table; as it should be.
I’ll try to group the switches together so i can hit them both at one time and throw the whole path, or Even wire up multiple turnouts to one switch. i haven’t thought that far ahead yet.
Wes,
You could decide on a ‘preferred route’ and wire those switches to be automatic (throw approprite to train direction), see the video that ATSJer posted, at least it appears that the switches automatically throw to avoid derailments, you can then concentrate on throwing the other switches when you want to…
Jeremy,
Those long sidings are going to be under a custom built roundhouse.
Let me explain a bit of what the railyard is modeled after.
I had lived in the Pittsburgh, PA area for most of my life and I lived very near the Conway Yard. The Conway Yard was the largest railyard in the world for most of its life. It was the first place I had ever seen a working turntable with roundhouse, and it is still in operation today. If you are travelling along the Ohio River you can see the railyard and the town of Baden, PA behind it (the Railyard stretches from Conway, PA at its Eastern end, and Freedom, PA at its Western end), if memory serves me correctly it is nearly 5 - 10 miles long, and is some 20 tracks deep! This yard has seen everything from old steam engines to modern diesels, and its construction still reflects its history. Gone are the huge water towers and coaling stations for the steamers, but they have been replaced with one of the largest sanding tower complexes in the US.
I’ll post pics when I get back and have a chance to post them!
Woah!! That’s huge! I can’t wait to see pics, and I understand now why shortening that end of the layout is not a possibility. Still love your plan though, very nice indeed.
OK,
So I’ve been staring at this layout for over a week now and couldn’t figure out what was missing…
Fife’s recommendations about scrapping the turntable and roundhouse just weren’t sitting well with me, but I really liked the idea of having a larger railyard for storage… so I got to playing around with the design… and this is the result:
Color Key:
Black: Track at base 0
Grey: Ascending Track from base 0 to 7 inches
Blue: Track at level 2 (7 inches)
Red: Descending Track from Level 2 to base 0
I added a few access doors so if there is a problem they can be attended to…
I love your layout, that thing looks beautiful. One question, how do you plan to integrate the access panels? Are you going to have scenery on them or what?
Roland,
No problems here! I love designing layouts… I have 10 versions of this layout alone, so to think it is final is plan crazy… heck I’ll probably change it 5 to 10 times before I screw one section of track down!
ATSJer,
Yes they will have scenery on them. They will be simple 1x4 frames that ‘lock’ into the benchwork. My goal is to make them as light as possible so I can lift them into position and hold them in place with one hand while turning the locks into position (just going to be 1by stock screwed into the benchwork, two locks per side. The access panels are going to be tricky because you don’t want them to be obvious, so careful placement of the scenery is key.
Yeah, that’s not going to be easy. How will you conceal the seams? This is the problem that I’m trying to think through as well; since I’m planning to build a portable permanent display I will be trying to integrate removeable terrain features (tunnels, hills, etc). Someone mentioned cutting down into the table top to have a place where the piece sets into, but that will leave a seam as well. It may just be something that I have to deal with, but I’d like to find the best solution possible.
Oh, yeah a city theme would help a lot, because you could blend the theme with a sidewalk or a road edge. As for me, I’m planning on a rual landscape, maybe I can use some shrubs or trees or something; otherwise I’ll just have to accept the fault lines.
